Here Piggy, Piggy!

The 2011 Kansas State Fair wrapped up Sunday in Hutchinson, Kansas.  And you better believe we made it out to the fair this year!!

Adam first exposed me to the fair a few years ago when we were still dating.  He wanted to show me all that the fair had to offer.  It’s a short nine-day exhibition of all things Kansas–and then some.

The first couple of trips we made to the fair while we were dating involved corn dogs, riding a few rides, checking out the FFA Ag Mech entries, watching some livestock shows, and being harassed by a bearded woman who wanted to guess our ages and weights.

Step right up…

Hey good lookin’, I betcha I can tell you how old you are…

…And what about your lovely lady, I betcha I can tell her weight…

Lady, my driver’s license can’t even tell my correct weight…and No, I don’t want to see your child that looks like an alligator.

Adam, stop making eye contact and keep walking…

Adam has major history with the Kansas State Fair.  It goes way back to his childhood.  He would always make trips to the fair with his schoolmates on field trips, he exhibited livestock there, and he even entered the winning FFA Project Reconstruction one year.  Needless to say, the Kansas State Fair has a special place in his heart.

He has always been an excellent tour guide while showing me the highlights of the fair.  And we always seem to just stumble upon random things that make you shake you head and say, “Only at the fair!!”

One of the highlights of the fair this year was the pig racing.

This was an event that I have never been able to experience until this year.  And although Adam always mentions in our drive to the fair that we’ve GOT to see the races, we have missed them every year because we’ve been at other parts of the fairgrounds when they were taking place.

And every year Adam is highly dissappointed when we walk back to our vehicle and realize that we have missed the races.

This year we entered the fair from another gate and just so happened to stumble upon the race track.  Adam noticed that the next race was going to happen soon, so we made our way to get some seats.  You could immediately sense Adam’s excitement.

It had rained earlier in the morning, so Adam decided that we should just go to the top of the bleachers in one of the sections that surrounded the small pig racetrack and just stand up.

And that was the decision that brought about a simple series of events that led to the highlight of the day and something that I’m sure Adam will tell our children about some day.

Kids, did I ever tell you about the time I entered the winning FFA Project Reconstruction with my manure spreader?  Oh, and did I ever tell you about THE PIG RACE???”

I can hear him saying that in my head right now, and I have to giggle.

Anyway, while people were finding their seats, the race announcer was playing music to get the crowd pumped for the upcoming races.

And then the show really began.  The announcer introduced herself as a member of the Hedrick’s Pig Racing team from Nickerson, Kansas.  She introduced her assistant, Brother Leroy, and gave us the run-down for what we would soon be witnessing.

She told the crowd that their racing pigs were lean, mean, running machines.  In just a few minutes you’d see their racing stock bolt through the starting gates, hurdle over an obstacle, and sprint to the finish line.  The first pig to cross the line would get to a silver platter that held an Oreo cookie.

The announcer told the audience that their racing pigs weren’t just trained to run for a cookie.  Instead, they were trained to perform for cheers from the crowds.  Since her pigs ran better for cheering crowds, it only made sense to use some audience members to cheer on the piggies.

The announcer looked to one section of the bleachers and volunteered a lady to represent the red team, and then the announcer volunteered a lady from another section to represent the white team, and then from another section she volunteered a girl for the blue team, and then she looked at our section.

I think you know where this is going…

The announcer saw this lady wearing a purple shirt–and the announcer was partial to purple–who was standing up in the top row of the bleachers who needed to come down to represent the yellow team.

Oh good Lord, for all things that are holy and right in this world…

So I handed Adam my purse and camera and made my way down to the racetrack and accepted the job of head cheerleader for the yellow team.

My main job was to lead my bleacher section to whoop and holler to help our little yellow pigs run to victory.

Our piggies fared pretty well.  Rush Limbhock made its way to the winners circle in round one for the yellow team.

In round two–which featured some musical runners– Lady HogHog got beat by Willie Nelsloin and Aerosnout by the hair on her chinny, chin, chin.

And in the final round of the event, the yellow team ended up second.  Don’t ask me who our pig was, because I was too concerned about getting the crowd loud and proud for their piggy.  I mean after all, it was my job!  Give a girl a couple of pom-poms and watch out!

It was so funny to see Adam gleaming from ear to ear while he held my purse on his arm and took pictures on my camera to capture my first pig race experience.

I think I’ve found my calling in life…

Woooooooo. Pig. Sooie!